DIY Mason Bee House From a Thrift Find

Our bee population is quickly fading thanks to pesticides and GMO crops. Help keep these important animals thriving with a mason bee house you can make from a simple wooden cubby box.
You'll need a wooden frame for your bee house - it can be a cubby like this one, a birdhouse with the front taken off, even a simple wooden box.
Mason (or solitary) bees do not produce honey or live in hives. They nest in hollow tubes and small areas of stacked twigs. Creating your own will encourage these bees to visit your garden, populate and pollinate your garden.
Make nesting tubes from bamboo, hollow reed grass or paper. I cut parcel paper into strips and rolled them around a dowel in a couple of different diameters - one bigger (1/4") and one small (1/8").
Stack cardboard into some of the cubbies and twigs into the other.
Hang it in a sunny spot on a fence or wall at eye level. And watch the bees as they create their own nests.
Heather (New House New Home)
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 4 questions
  • BERNIE MONTAG BERNIE MONTAG on Apr 15, 2016
    What happens when it rains and the cardboard gets wet?
  • Dee B Dee B on Apr 15, 2016
    Do you think this would lure the carpenter bees away from my house and old stockade fence?
  • SandyFaust SandyFaust on Apr 16, 2016
    I wonder if it would draw wasps instead of bees?? Those small wasps even invade our birdhouses. I love this idea, and would do it if I could be sure they wouldn't take it over!!!
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  • Tonda Tonda on Sep 30, 2017

    Beautiful and creative I love your resourcefulness. I'm sure the bees do too❣️

  • Black Hills Rosie Black Hills Rosie on Aug 27, 2023

    I read somewhere that bundling hollow stems could provide shelter for them, too. My valerian provides a lot of them but I'll add some of the twigs to the bundles as you recommend. I'll do what I can to help our bee population.

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